All on the Board - Changing London journeys with the power of words
Content warning: this blog contains references to illnesses and events that could cause distress to some readers.
Hi, we are All on the Board. That’s the name we gave ourselves after our spontaneous decision to write a poem on an Underground station’s white board which sparked us to embark on a journey of creative partnership, anonymous shenanigans, awareness of mental health and invisible conditions, all on boards we could find at any station we worked at. We are two Tube workers by day with our own mental health and invisible conditions fuelling the spirit within what we write; with an aim to make the invisible visible and the world a brighter, more beautiful place for as many people as we can.
There’s never been anything like All on the Board before and the unexpected significance of our achievements have become an expected part of the experience of London Tube travel for millions of people, in the same way hearing “Mind the Gap” or seeing the famous London Underground roundel are. We are also about to become a living breathing element of London Transport Museum’s collection. Well, we hope so anyway, so stay tuned!
If this blog is about any one thing, it’s about showing you that no matter what you may be going through right now, no matter how dark the world might seem, you are not alone in what you are going through and there is a brighter future ahead. It’s also testament to the truth that nothing is impossible, because if two Tube workers can write a Sunday Times bestselling book and amass over 800k followers on social media then you can do anything you aspire to!
Yes, it can seem easy to say these things, but they’re true. We are proof of that. Ian Redpath (aka N1) and Jeremy Chopra (aka E1) are our real names. We stepped away from anonymity in 2020 for the release of our first book - All on the Board: Inspirational Quotes from the TFL Underground Duo. It felt like the right time to do so as we wanted to connect in a new way to more people. We both have bouts of depression and anxiety amongst other conditions (Ulcerative Colitis, PTSD, Insomnia, Tinnitus and an EDNOS ‘Eating Disorder’) all of which we often write about. We write from the heart about our own lives (from helping people experiencing their first ever panic attack in a crowded Tube station to Ian’s experience of a suicide as a train operator which led to his PTSD). We also research countless conditions to help raise more awareness of them and the messages we receive in response have ranged from life affirming to life saving. We are not experts; we are just two people empathising with what others experience through the eyes of our own dark and bright places.
We do this and more on our social media channels which you can find by searching for @allontheboard, and in our book; the Sunday Times Bestseller All on the Board: Inspirational Quotes from the TFL Underground Duo which is available on London Transport Museum’s online shop.